Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME

Opening Plenary Session (Saturday, September 8^th, 10am – 12am)
Ten years of crisis, ten years of struggle!
Speakers: Nicole Briend, Aline Fares, Amélie Kiyindou, Éric Toussaint

Ten years on since the 2008 banking crisis which resulted in government bail outs of major private banks, we are faced with austerity and the systematic dismantling of public services which are then routinely slated for privatization. In response, citizens are organizing forms of resistance to the crisis and to austerity by proposing alternatives to the neoliberal offensive and to capitalism.


Course 1: “What is the debt system?”

- « The debt system in Europe » - (Saturday, September 8^th, 2pm – 4pm)
Speakers: Adrien Péroches, Anouk Renaud (CADTM Belgium)

Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus, etc. You have not evaded its grasp, the debt crisis in the North has been in full swing for years. The « Debt of the North: Whodunnit’ » offers a pedagogical and dynamic perspective on the actors responsible for this increase in sovereign debt Sovereign debt Government debts or debts guaranteed by the government. .

- « The debt system in all its forms » Presentation of The Debt-System. A History of Sovereign Debts and Their Repudiation by Eric Toussaint (France: Les Liens qui Libèrent, 2017; USA: to be published by Haymarket Books, 2018). (Saturday, September 8^th, 4.20pm – 6.20pm)
Speaker: Éric Toussaint / Chair: Émilie Paumard (CADTM France)

Éric Toussaint will present his latest work, The Debt-System. A History of Sovereign Debts and Their Repudiation, which is essential for understanding the inexorable mechanism of debt and the evolution of the capitalist world since the 19^th century. While debt has been used as a weapon of destruction and domination in Latin America, China, Greece, Tunisia, and Egypt for example, there have also been numerous instances of its repudiation.

- « The debt system without borders: Debt, capitalism and migrations » - (Sunday, September 9^th, 9am – 12am)
Speakers: France Arets (CRACPE), Jérôme Duval (CADTM Belgium), Mamadou Bah (CADTM), and Emmanuelle Vinois (legal expert, asbl Point d’appui)

The explosion of « forced migration» at the global level has multiple origins (climate change, poverty, war, inequalities, humanitarian and health conditions, etc). Forced migration also has a common denominator – globalization in its capitalist iteration and the domination through debt that underlies it. Faced with innumerable threats along their endless perilous journey, migrants are subject to systematic violations of their human rights.


Course 2: “The debt-system today”

- Let’s make the struggle against vulture funds Vulture funds
Vulture fund Investment funds who buy, on the secondary markets and at a significant discount, bonds once emitted by countries that are having repayment difficulties, from investors who prefer to cut their losses and take what price they can get in order to unload the risk from their books. The Vulture Funds then pursue the issuing country for the full amount of the debt they have purchased, not hesitating to seek decisions before, usually, British or US courts where the law is favourable to creditors. international! (Saturday, September 8^th, 2pm – 4pm)
Speakers: Milena Costas (UNHCR), Mercedes Revuelta (Platform against vulture funds, Madrid), Olivier Stein (Progress Lawyers Network)

On May 31^st of this year, the Belgian Constitutional Court rejected an appeal by the vulture fund NML Capital to strike the July 12, 2015 law, adopted by the Belgian Federal Parliament and drafted with the expertise of the CADTM, from the constitution. In the wake of this historic victory, CADTM calls for an escalation in the fight against illegitimate creditors at the international level. Whether in Argentina, Greece, or Spain, the insidious operations of vulture funds have catastrophic consequences for the population. Known to speculate on public debt, these scavengers of finance also attack strategic sectors such as real estate or health.

- China, a new lending power and its Belt and Road initiative - (Saturday, September 8^th, 4.20pm – 6.20pm)
Speakers: Ya-Han Chuang (University of Toulouse - Jean Jaurès), Sushovan Dhar (CADTM India)

Since the introduction of market liberalization reforms in China in 1979 under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, the country has seen impressive capitalist development, becoming a preferred destination for investment. With the turn of the century, China has been looking outward, becoming one of the major capital-exporting powers and one of the leading bilateral creditors. Presented as more favorable than those of « traditional » creditors, China’s policies now embodied by the Belt and Road initiative are already being denounced by social movements in China’s partner countries. This is due to their disastrous implications in terms of sovereignty, violation of social rights and devastation of the environment.

- Revolutions, counter-revolutions and struggles against debt and austerity in North Africa - (Sunday, September 9^th, 9am – 12am)
Speakers: Omar Aziki (ATTAC - CADTM Morocco), Fathi Chamkhi (Front Populaire MP, Tunisia)

The revolutionary upsurge that began in December of 2010 in Tunisia and disseminated swiftly throughout North Africa and the Middle East should have been a sign of better things to come for the people of the region and beyond. Despite an extensive counter-revolution, the popular resistance continues, calling for freedom, social justice and human dignity, the same demands that were at the heart of the 2010-2011 uprisings. This workshop will assess the current situation and propose an outlook for the future, giving the floor to anti-debt activists of Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt.


Course 3: “Converging struggles and Alternatives”

- The debt crisis in Europe and initiatives for an alternative - (Sunday, September 9^th, 9am – 12am)
Speakers: Daniel Albarracin, Christine Poupin, Cristina Quintavalla, Éric Toussaint

The 2015 Greek episode testified to the level of coercion that creditors, the European institutions and the states of the Euro Zone’s Core are ready to enforce to thwart a leftist government in Europe. What measures should a popular government take to break with austerity, resist the diktats of the European authorities and make radical changes in favor of the interests of the populace? What internationalism today in Europe?

- « To conduct a debt audit is to resist by practice! » - (Saturday, September 8^th, 4.20pm – 6.20pm)
Speakers from citizen audit groups in Spain, Belgium, Italy, Gabon and France)

You would like to investigate the debt of your city or of a specific public sector but you’re unsure of where to begin? Would like to raise awareness regarding these issues? Come to this workshop to share Share A unit of ownership interest in a corporation or financial asset, representing one part of the total capital stock. Its owner (a shareholder) is entitled to receive an equal distribution of any profits distributed (a dividend) and to attend shareholder meetings. your practices, bring your questions regarding public debt audits, and most importantly your ambition to topple illegitimate debt!

- Socialization of banks – regaining democratic control of finance (Saturday, September 8^th, 2pm – 4pm)
Speakers: Aline Fares, Sushovan Dhar (CADTM India), Éric Toussaint

10 years following the crisis, the few measures taken to stabilize the banks were evidently insufficient. While the banking system poses an increasing risk for the population, taking radical measures to reduce and democratize them has become crucial. What does the socialization of banks entail and how do we get there? How does socialization differ from nationalization?


Closing Plenary Session (Sunday, September 9^th, 2.15pm – 4.45pm)

General feminist strike!
Speakers: Maimouna Bah (Committee of undocumented women, Brussels), Noémie Cravatte (CADTM Belgium), Georgina Monge (Justa Revolta), Maria Elena Saludas (ATTAC - CADTM Argentina)

March 8^th of this year proved to be a true demonstration of the force of feminist movements in different countries. Hundreds of thousands of women gathered, marched, and went on strike to denounce the economic exploitation of women and gender-based violence that persists globally. We invite you to listen to the dynamic testimonials of Spanish, Italian, Argentinian, and Belgian activists involved in these struggles that truly inspire!


Book presentations
 Saturday 8 September: De quoi l’effondrement est-il le nom ? by Renaud Duterme
 Saturday 8 September: The Debt System. A History of Sovereign Debt and their Repudiation by Éric Toussaint
 Sunday 9 September: Il faut tuer TINA by Olivier Bonfond

And in the evening we party…
With a show,
a film projection,
a concert: DJ KITOKO and MISS SIROCCO have already confirmed their attendance!